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| Author |
Message |
| 19 new of 66 responses total. |
slynne
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response 48 of 66:
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Jul 7 21:06 UTC 2004 |
Isnt the Toyota Matrix the same car as the Pontiac Vibe?
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ball
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response 49 of 66:
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Jul 8 06:48 UTC 2004 |
Re #48: "The twins are a General Motors-Toyota co-production
using Toyota drivetrains. Vibes are built in the NUMI
plant in California that also manufactures most Corollas
sold in the U.S, while all Matrixes are assembled in
Canada at Toyota s award-winning Cambridge plant."
http://autonet.ca/DriverSource/Stories.cfm?StoryID=5151
It sounds as though the important parts come from Toyota, so
I'll try not to let the Pontiac connection put me off.
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n8nxf
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response 50 of 66:
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Jul 29 15:28 UTC 2004 |
I had a Chevy Toyota Corolla Nova back in the 80's. We liked it a lot and
had it for 15 years putting 150K on it. I would think it's the same deal with
the Vib.
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ball
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response 51 of 66:
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Jul 30 16:55 UTC 2004 |
Re #50: did it make a good ground plane? ;-)
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n8nxf
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response 52 of 66:
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Feb 6 03:59 UTC 2005 |
It wasn't plastic so, yes it did.
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ball
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response 53 of 66:
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Aug 29 18:10 UTC 2005 |
My napkin math was wrong, but not 'out of the ball park'
wrong. According to the metric conversions at...
http://www.sciencemadesimple.net
...40 MPG is about 5.88 l/100 km.
We bought the Matrix. Not Diesel :-( Stick shift :-) No
accelleration :-( Reasonable fuel economy :-) Gas costs
half as much here as in Britain, but I'm still feeling the
effect of the rise in gasoline prices.
- Andy Ball
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ball
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response 54 of 66:
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Jan 9 05:04 UTC 2006 |
It finally happened at Christmas: there came a day when the
Matrix was officially too small. We were going out of town
for a couple of days to visit family and couldn't squeeze
everything that we needed in there.
Before we added a child seat that prevented us from folding
down the rear seats, I was able to use the Matrix to bring
home a small chest freezer in a 1m wide carton. I was
somewhat surprised that it fit. Now I'm starting to see why
suburban families might buy SUVs, mini-vans or other such
monstrosities.
I wouldn't object to a long-wheelbase Land Rover Defender
(biodiesel, naturally ;-) but that's more for use as a
platform for experiments in radio, electronics and perhaps
astronomy. I get the impression that those aren't legal over
here anyway, so perhaps I should buy an old Geo Metro, strip
everything out of that, stiffen the suspension and start
welding and bolting things to it. >:-)
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rcurl
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response 55 of 66:
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Jan 9 06:21 UTC 2006 |
I drive non-SUV wagons. For carrying equipment for four people for car
camping I built a box with doors that can be carried on top, with four
compartments on one side for individual gear and compartments on the other
side for tent, cooking gear, etc. There is no reason to have a vehicle
that can carry all that when most of the time all that is not being
carried. I've thought that such containers should be standard accessories
one could buy with a car, but they aren't.
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gull
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response 56 of 66:
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Jan 10 04:02 UTC 2006 |
A utility trailer is often a good option, too, although most modern
cars have laughably small towing capacities. (Yet another reason
people buy SUVs.)
The Land Rover Defender has, as far as I know, not been sold in the
U.S. for about a decade. Importing cars younger than 25 years that
weren't sold here is difficult because they're required to meet EPA/DOT
standards.
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n8nxf
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response 57 of 66:
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Jan 25 14:36 UTC 2006 |
We drove our Subaru Legacy wagon from Michigan to Oregon and back with two
teens, two adults, an 8-man cabin tent, sleeping bags and clothing for all.
The Yakima Space Box on top made it possible.
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springne
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response 58 of 66:
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Jan 25 14:46 UTC 2006 |
I ride a bicycle a lot, every day.
And I'm looking at a Ford F-250 with the "mobile office" detachable tablet
computer with voice command. I'm waiting for the local Ford dealer to get
one in.
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keesan
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response 59 of 66:
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Jan 25 23:25 UTC 2006 |
Re 57, 2 plus 2 does not add to 8 - why such a big tent instead of 2 small
ones? We drove our 1986 Toyota around the country for a month with camping
gear, clothing, cooking gear, food for two, and a piano.
What is a tablet computer?
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ball
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response 60 of 66:
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Feb 6 04:25 UTC 2006 |
Re #59: Picture a conventional laptop with the display where
the keyboard would normally be and without the lid.
They generally feature touch-sensitive displays that
people use with a plastic stylus.
Similar are 'convertibles' where you can open the
lid, twist it 180 degrees so that the display is on
the outside and close it to use it like a tablet.
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keesan
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response 61 of 66:
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Feb 6 15:13 UTC 2006 |
I would rather use a keyboard to enter data. Someone gave us a PDA without
a keyboard and to enter data you either have to draw each letter carefully
or tap on pictures of each letter on a 'keyboard' on the display. It is a
really slow way to enter data unless you are the sort who types with one
finger anyway.
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rcurl
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response 62 of 66:
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Feb 6 18:51 UTC 2006 |
I find entering information in a PDA to be moderately easy, but a little
frustrating because I type with ten fingers working together while one ony
has one stylus to enter characters on a PDA. It can only be done as fast as
one can write. In some circumstances writing is better than typing - one case
might be when taking lecture notes. One has to first listen to what is being
said and then write down key thoughts or data. Doing it on a keyboard could
distract one from first understanding before recording. But then, I've never
tried to take notes on a keyboard, so maybe I'm wrong.
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keesan
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response 63 of 66:
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Feb 6 20:49 UTC 2006 |
I would much rather type notes, it goes faster, but maybe people need to draw
and store drawings not just text?
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gull
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response 64 of 66:
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Feb 6 22:08 UTC 2006 |
I find writing notes to be more useful during meetings or lectures,
because I can draw diagrams, or draw arrows to illustrate connections.
I've developed a sort of loose outline style for note-taking, over the
years -- I use indentation to denote ideas that relate to each other
but I don't use a rigid I, II, III or a), b), c) sequence, just dashes.
On the other hand, if I'm creating notes that will be used to make a
speech or document, I find typing them to be more useful, because it's
easier to rearrange whole blocks of information to make things flow
better. In that case the notes generally get written in a text editor,
and the final document in a full-blown word processor.
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keesan
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response 65 of 66:
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Feb 6 22:29 UTC 2006 |
So how is it more useful to draw on a computer instead of paper while taking
notes?
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gull
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response 66 of 66:
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Feb 6 22:35 UTC 2006 |
I don't know. I've always drawn on paper. I suppose some people would
find computer notes easier to file, back up, and distribute to others,
though. When I worked at Interclean, it was common for us to take a
digital photo of any whiteboard drawings we made during a meeting so we
could all have a copy.
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